Found yourself in a pickle? Return to the manger (Sermon)

Weinachts gurke, Christbaumschmuck der Firma Inge-Glas, Neustadt bei Coburg, Deutschland, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

This Christmas sermon inspired by the popular pickle ornament was preached on  Luke 2:1-20 at Christ Lutheran Church (Fredericksburg, VA) on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2023. You can also find a recording of this post at my 2 Penny Blog Podcast.

Sadly, there is no children’s message tonight, but we are all Children of God, and this is Christmas Eve, so I have something to show you. [Displaying pickle Christmas ornament.] Can anyone tell me what this is?  —- That’s right, it is a pickle ornament, but in this case, it has a pickle flavored gummy candy inside. (Yum, right?) As I shopped for gifts this year, both in Walmart and Target, I discovered versions of this tasty “gift” inspired by the popular Christmas ornament – the pickle.

Now, there are several different origin stories attributed to the tradition of hanging a pickle on one’s tree, including one claiming an origination in Germany. This has been largely discounted by those who study such things, and it is now thought to be a German-American tradition created in the late 19th century – perhaps during the Civil War – right here in the US. Yet however it started, the idea remains that on Christmas morning, the first person to find the pickle on the tree will receive an extra present from Santa Claus or (they say) you will have a year of good fortune ahead.

In any case, seeing this pickle candy ornament got me thinking. It has a sour and sweet taste. Some will like it. For others, it might be hard to swallow. And in that tension – stick with me now – we might just have a perfect allegory for Christmas. You see, the story of Christmas is not really one of just lights, triumphant song, and gifts. We celebrate something much more complex. The story of Jesus is both sweet and sour, joyous and sad, easy for some to hold on to and hard for others to dare hope in.

When we look closely at the story itself, when we ponder it perhaps as Mary and Joseph truly experienced it, we witness a couple who had to accept the impossible – a virgin birth. They did so at the risk of accusations of sins such as adultery. This could make Joseph appear the cuckolded fiancé to his peers or one who took advantage of poor, young Mary, thus he would dishonored, a pariah, in an honor-based society. Worse, it perhaps could have resulted in Mary’s stoning for adultery – for a relationship outside of marriage was deemed a reason for death. Who among their family, friends and neighbors would believe such a crazy story as a virgin birth? Despite the risks, they accepted their fate. They trusted God, and therefore, both Mary and Joseph said yes to God.

Then, they faced another challenge – that of the census and its associated taxes. They had to travel to Joseph’s ancestral, tribal home of Bethlehem. They embarked on what was likely a four to seven day journey over about 90-miles. Remember, there were no paved roads, cars, trains, planes, nor were there rest-stops along the way.[i] Lyft and Uber were not options. They traveled on rocky, dirty, dusty paths. They traveled through a land under military occupation by the Romans, who could sometimes randomly be bullies to the native peoples. Not only that, Mary and Joseph also faced the very common risk of rebels and robbers harassing them as they traveled as well.

And let us not forget that Mary traveled even as Jesus’ birth was imminent. She was in her third trimester. If Joseph cared about Mary and the baby, the pace would have likely been slower with many stops for the bathroom, rest, and food. So, some specuilate that the trip might have taken a week traveling at the less than the rocket pace of about 2-mph.[ii] Despite facing many challenges in trusting in the great promise of Jesus, if not experiencing very real fear at the political and religious threats around them, both Mary and Joseph continued to say yes to God. They stepped out bravely in faith, for God had promised to be with them on their journey.

And once they arrived, more challenges appeared. There was no room at the inn. This small, backwater village of Bethlehem did not seem to have the capacity for all those who returned to be counted. They found themselves instead in a stable. Archeology and historical studies in the area indicate these stables were often more like caves. They offered the smallest amount of protection and comfort. Yes, the newborn king was not yet widely celebrated. He was laid somewhat quietly in a manger…a trough for animals, surrounded by noisy animals and filth. No, there were no robes or crowns for Jesus. Luke reports he was wrapped in bands or strips of cloth – essentially “wrapping” Jesus tightly…swaddling him…in what meager things they had.

There’s a common and ancient Christian belief that being born in this cave and wearing his swaddling clothes foreshadow Jesus’ future burial in a stone tomb. As cute as Jesus must have been, as warm as the loved shared between parents and child could ever be, we should not forget why our Messiah came. This innocent baby, born without sin, would be hated by many, find no roof to call his home for the last years of his life, and he would ultimately suffer and die for our sake. (Thus, you will often see Eastern Orthodox icons and ancient European art shockingly portraying Jesus as an infant wrapped tightly within his burial cloth.)

Even as Jesus started his life among us, scripture suggests he and his family were poor. They had no finery. And yet, again, Mary and Joseph made do with what they had. They trusted God to supply their every need, and they shared what they had including all their love with Jesus. Yes, they trusted God with their lives, and despite the many threats and challenges, they sought to live in expectation and hope. (Of course, this doesn’t mean they never cried, or suffered, or felt fear. They were human after all, but the power of such times did not control them. They knew they were in God’s loving hands, and that truth helped them to act free of fear to do the right thing – as that same truth might do for us.)

So, we see that the story of the nativity is in a great part one of threat, struggle, poverty, and suffering…There’s a sourness to it. Our modern sensibilities might not like it, but that is the way it was. That’s the way our lives can be today in part. We might not want to think about the hard things that come with life. We probably prefer the happy, but Jesus came to share our lives fully – even the bad parts, including death – even as he remained our God. And Mary and Joseph? This was a couple who likely experienced much joy, but they also knew what it meant to be a human in a very fallen and unfair world. They, my friends, as great as they were, were much like us.

However, before we lose hope, remember that there is much sweetness in this story too. There proves much reason for joy. For Jesus came as Immanuel, God with us. Jesus has come to ultimately save us from harm and every evil – even our own struggle with sin. And we can also see that Mary and Joseph’s own love and faith sustained them – much as such faithful, loving relationships with others can help empower and sustain us. Mary and Joseph proved stronger due to these social bonds, and so can we.

And we learn as the Gospel unfolds that many others who are oppressed, forgotten, alone, sick or suffering – perhaps again people like us – came to see Jesus as he truly is over time…see him as Mary and Joseph did as the Holy Spirit opens eyes, minds, and hearts. Jesus is not you average baby. He is the Messiah, our Savior, our Redeemer, our way to forgiveness, joy, and everlasting life…He’s meant to be our everything. And because of Jesus’ call for us to be one, these newly enlightened ones sought to be one no matter what they have done or failed to do, and they invited others to be in relationship with Jesus – as we should strive to do.

If that wasn’t enough, the angels remind us of the eternal import of this baby’s birth as they sing, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” We can’t trust our feelings. We cannot look to our situation or the world for a final clue. No, God loves us so much, God comes to us…as one of the most vulnerable among us…a baby…and angels (God’s messengers) point the way. Our Father in Heaven declares that it is upon us that his favor rests…us! Can you believe it? God in Jesus has come to us and for us. Wow!

The world can seem so daunting at times, perhaps even against us, but it is at Martin Luther observed so long ago now, “The incarnation is proof that God is not against us.” No, as bad as life can get, God always loves us and promises a future filled with hope ahead of us. God comes to us in our need over and over again. Is it any wonder that the shepherds left amazed, and Mary treasured these mysteries and pondered them? There is so much sour in our world. It can be hard to believe that good exists, never mind believe that the baby laying at her breast was God.

Faith is hard. Trusting is a risk. And so sometimes as a human as I face difficulties, I just want to spit all the sour out; throw up my hands and walk away. Even as Advent started, as many of you know, I was reminded of the sting of death as someone incredibly important to me died. And many here have faced their own losses, disappointments, negative diagnoses, financial problems, perhaps even worse this past year. Each of us has a unique story, but I know we are all human in a broken world. Even with faith, life is hard. The imperfections of our world and our life are always present. They remain almost easier to identify than our blessings. They can capture our attention and hold us hostage. Much as our sin can do, our problems might also bind and blind us.

In response, God’s messengers again shout for our attention, “in the town of David a Savior has been born to you,”…for you. In some ways, Christmas seems most especially for the sad ones among us…Those of us walking through a “Bleak Midwinter” can see a light beckoning us on, warming our hearts, and calling us toward trust.[iii] Like Mary and Joseph, understanding that God is Love, a Love that has and will continue to reach out to us, we can seek to trust the promises of God to be with us, and for us, even if we must do so through tears at times.

Thus, no matter who we are or our situations, we, too, can step out in faith as Mary and Joseph once did. Like the shepherds, we might not fully understand, we might struggle to trust, but we can seek this hope we have heard testified to us. We can try to share our experience, strength, and hope with others. For in seeking Jesus with the eyes of faith, we will find that Jesus is already and always will be reaching out to us before we even recognize him – much as he came unnoticed by most of the world on that first Christmas Eve.

I, for one, think we need to both notice his birth and look for Jesus in our lives each day. As a young adult from the Slovak Republic reminded me through a meditation she shared while I faced my own grief, “When we are feeling hopeless, we are not facing the God that is giving us hope, [instead] we are facing the world that is giving us these hopeless feelings.”[iv] In effect, we are believing in the power of the world more than God’s power. We are in a way worshipping the world instead of God, giving it power over our lives. Instead, we have the choice to turn to our God and live.

And so, in both good times and bad, God calls us back to the manger – to take another look. Amidst the sour of this world, the sweet cries of Jesus lying in the manger were calling us by name before we were even born; imploring us to trust in him today and always. Times might be hard, we might feel like we are in a pickle (you knew I had to go there), but through that baby in a manger, we always have access to a hope we can concretely hold onto. Jesus is here. God became human in the flesh. Heaven has broken into our world. In this, we can rejoice. We might only get a foretaste of this glory for now, but life – thanks to Jesus and his promises – remains very sweet indeed. Amen.  

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[i] https://aleteia.org/2018/12/18/a-feast-no-longer-celebrated-invites-us-deeper-into-the-bethlehem-journey/

[ii] Gordon College. (December 18, 2020) “Five things you didn’t know about the Christmas story.” https://stories.gordon.edu/5-things-you-didnt-know-about-the-christmas-story

[iii] See Condon, S. (December 17, 2023). Put the sad back in Christmas: Enough with the forced holly jolly. https://mbird.com/holidays/christmas/put-the-sad-back-in-christmas/

[iv] Eva Chalupkova. Lutheran World Federation, Facebook Reel dated December 19, 2023.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations for this post are from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVue) translation.

© 2023 The Rev. Louis Florio. All content not held under another’s copyright may not be used without permission of the author.

Seeing things as they are (Sermon)

Photo by Boudewijn Boer on Unsplash

This sermon on  Isaiah 5:1-7; 11:1-5 and Mark 12:1-3 was preached at Christ Lutheran Church (Fredericksburg, VA) on the Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost, November 19, 2023. You can also find a recording of this post at my 2 Penny Blog Podcast.

In my work as a volunteer police chaplain or in pastoral counseling, I can run into people with a vision problem. No, they don’t need an eye doctor. Their way of looking at life can be out of focus. The person might suffer from bent thinking where it is like looking at your submerged legs as you stand in the water above. Your legs are the same as they have always been, but you perceive them as losing definition and perhaps they seem disjointed or cut off from the rest of your body. Unfortunately, as humans, as we experience traumas (big or small), or as we seek to control things that aren’t controllable, or as we try to cope with stress or loss in unhealthy ways, our vision of reality tends to be negatively impacted. We don’t see our life, our options, or who we are accurately. Our focus on what’s bad or hard begins to overshadow the goodness of life…and my friends, believe it or not, there is always goodness to be seen…even as we face death. I have seen this as a hospice chaplain.

To be frank, I find these symptoms of an imperfect humanity in a difficult world to be like those of us with post-traumatic stress symptoms. (Sure, maybe the symptoms might not be as severe for everyone, but they are often similar.) Over time, we can wrongly personalize things saying things like, “the world is against me,” “nobody likes me,” or we might believe that “I am the unluckiest person in the world.” Along with negative self-talk, maybe we imagine slight or expect betrayal when there is none. Or, we might simply take on blame when something bad happens to us or those we love even when there is no blame. Things can go wrong even when we do everything perfectly because life isn’t fair. Even Jesus, perfect and without sin, died on a cross. That was pretty unfair to be sure.

Conversely, we might hear a criticism of someone or some group we are associated with, and we allow ourselves to become deeply wounded by something we have no connection to. Those times are examples of personalizing things, but we can also catastrophize things: “If I fail this test, my life will be ruined.,” “If (insert a name) breaks up with me, I have no future.” We begin to see our world simplistically and dualistically. (And by that, I mean we tend to see events as all good or all bad – nothing falls in between.) Life just is not that way.

If this sounds familiar to you, I am not surprised. As humans, we all can feel this way at times. The darkness of this world can whisper in our ears, and we might listen too long. The problems become more significant and life threatening (to one’s own quality of life or concretely a danger to one’s life or others) when we get stuck in this pattern of thinking. We stop seeing the big picture – that life is long. Our life course can change at any time. It is only a bad day, not a bad life. More than that, perhaps more harmful, we forget that we have a God behind us that is bigger than any problems we face, even death. And that God, our God, has promised to love us and care for us always, because we are God’s people. Remember, Jesus actually calls us his family.

When we look at prophetic texts forecasting doom, it is dangerous to view them in isolation. Martin Luther argued (and those who join me for Bible study on Monday nights hear this over and over again), we need scripture to interpret scripture. What we are reading is not meant to be heard in isolation, for it is just part of a much larger, all-encompassing story which isn’t just in the past. This story, God’s love for us, embraces us in the present…even on the worst of days. “God is with us,” Immanuel. We learn this with Jesus…but God was always with those and for those God so lovingly created and called. Most assuredly, you have likely heard someone at some time use such passages to try to scare people straight…you toe the line or suffer in hell eternally, as you deserve….Yet as true as hell and consequences might prove, those kind of threats never worked for me. I just lost hope. It is only God’s love and grace that ultimately turns most lives around.

As we look at Isaiah’s prophecy today, we need to read it with the proper lens and context. Just as we heard the prophet Hosea call the Northern Kingdom of Israel to account, Isaiah’s task was to seek the repentance of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Yet, the prophet Isaiah begins with a somewhat strange literary motif of his day. His warning is hidden within the guise of an ancient Hebrew love poem.

Long ago, the vineyard was a symbol of a nurturing, sweet, growing love. And so, we hear of God being like a planter. God expected a great deal from the love he planted in the lives of this chosen people. God’s time had been invested selecting the richest soil, digging, pruning, and watering throughout their history and present. To protect them, there would be a watchtower, and hedges and walls (perhaps these represent his power, angels, laws, and of course grace). The ancient vineyard required hard, intentional work for the grapes to flourish (much as with any healthy relationship). Symbolically, the poem represented God’s work and God’s blessing benefitting God’s people…those God loved.

Yet, surrounded by international and natural threats, the people were afraid. They forgot God’s promises. They did not trust them. And so, the people reached out to false gods to help them feel in control and safe – sometimes idol worship and superstition, but also sinful actions and distractions can become idols too. Yes, there was evil in the world striking out at them through the Assyrian and later Babylonian Empires…but they themselves had also torn down the fences and stomped on the grace of God with the daily choices they made. A people who should have born good fruit began to bear rottenness, selfishness, and other sins. Jesus would echo Isaiah in John 15 with his own parable of the vineyard saying, “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.” As with the vineyard prophesy in Mark, Jesus would recall how the people had a tendency to reject the fruit of love from God – not only prophets, but also himself.

Sadly through Isaiah, we learn that Judah has failed to abide in God’s love…failed to love God and neighbor. That’s their primary sin. And so Isaiah’s song or parable of the vineyard will go on to enumerate their sins and consequences to leave no doubt; much like a prosecutor before the judge who is God: Covetousness and greediness of worldly wealth and land where the poor were ignored shall be punished with famine (v. 8-10); rioting, drunkenness, and lives of excess (v. 11, v. 12, v. 22, v. 23) shall be punished with captivity and all the miseries that attend it (v. 13-17); presumption in sin, and defying the justice of God (v. 18, v. 19); confounding the distinctions between virtue and vice, and so undermining the principles of their faith (v. 20); Self-conceit and lack of reliance upon God (v. 21); perverting justice, for which with the other instances of reigning wickedness among them, for these sins a great and general desolation is threatened, which would lay all waste (v. 24-25). This would come to be through a foreign invasion (v. 26-30), referring to the havoc which would come by Assyria’s army and the later Babylonian Empire.[i]

Despite God’s intention of blessing and life, their choices were leading to death. Isaiah warns that Sheol, the place of the dead, shall open its mouth wide and swallow them all. Their own bad choices and lack of vision would see to that. Is it any wonder that the people felt afraid as their world was falling apart…as if they had been abandoned by God? This is so human! Yet, God still longed for them…hoped for them. “Turn to God and live!” prophets would cry out. Still, they tended to blame the messengers or others…anyone but themselves. And so, the Assyrians would come…and then the Babylonians…and finally about six decades of exile and suffering would come as well. In this prophecy of doom and through the shortsightedness of the people, sure, we can see and understand parallels within our own lives. Our similar actions might result in similar consequences, but let’s cast a wider glance. 

As Isaiah shares about the consequences of sin or a fickle faith with his people, he also points the people’s vision toward God. If God didn’t love them, would God have sent prophets to call them back into relationship? And so, he shares his call story in the next chapter. Then, he encourages the King and the people. He proclaims, “the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son and shall name him Immanuel.” Although Christians see Jesus in this ongoing promise, Isaiah pointed to the birth of a son to inherit the throne as a sign and promise for a future filled with hope in his time. And even as lack of faith will lead to periods of loss and suffering, as all bad choices do at some level, Isaiah urges them not to give up hope. Justice will surely come because God’s love is already at work in their midst. And because God is just, those leaders and powerful who take advantage of or abuse others, and even arrogant Assyria, will all eventually face the consequences of their behaviors and haughtiness, too.

Yet those who remain faithful, who are imperfect but strive for justice and peace, who seek to love God and neighbor, all will be well. All is well, for God always loves them. Even today as we face our problems and pain, Paul, too, assures us that we are already victorious. Why? It is not because of anything we do or don’t do. It is because God has chosen to love us, and Jesus came – not for himself – but for us and our benefit…to do what we cannot…save us.

As we wrestle with harsh realities all around us, God is with us…God promises to be with us! Bad times will pass. Death has lost its sting. Sins can be forgiven, and lives restored. And so today, we jumped a bit forward a bit and also heard from Isaiah as recorded in chapter 11. Professor Michael Chan of Luther Seminary points out, “The concrete expression of this new future is a ruler on whom the spirit will rest (verse 2). Promise comes to Israel in the form of a person—a human king who embodies the best of Israel’s traditions: He is wise and understanding (verse 2), powerful in war (verses 2, 4), able to judge for the benefit of the poor (verses 3-4), and obedient to God (verses 2, 5).”[ii] God will elect leaders to lead them toward a more peaceable kingdom. More than that, beyond Isaiah’s own hope perhaps, Christ will come. Later Christians, struggling as Jewish believers before them had, will see Jesus’ work hidden within these same passages.

Pastor Chan goes on, “At the end of the day, Isaiah 11:1-9 does allow us to celebrate Jesus’ ministry in the past and especially in the present, but the text also urges us to the place of intercession, where we long for creation’s promised destiny, as a place where peace, justice, and grace have the final word.”[iii]

You see, the promised new heaven and new earth with Jesus’ return is still yet to come. Sin and death though defeated are in their death throes around us. Life can still hurt. People can still fail us…We can fail ourselves. Crosses might yet need to be carried. Still, never fear. Although sometimes hidden or hard to see clearly, God is here. You are loved. And nothing, not even death, will have the final say. For through our faith and baptism, don’t you see, we are part of God’s story. Despite how things might look at times, God loves us and has promised to never let us go. Even now, God is doing a new thing. God is leading us home. Amen.

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[i] Matthew Henry Commentary as found at Biblestudytools.com http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/matthew-henry-complete/isaiah/5.html

[ii] Chan, M.J. (November 19, 2023). Working Preacher. Commentary on Isaiah 5:1-7; 11:1-5 as downloaded athttps://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/narrative-lectionary/isaiahs-vineyard-song-2/commentary-on-isaiah-51-7-111-5-3.

[iii] Ibid.

Learning about love

Photo by Hans Veth on Unsplash

You can also find a recording of this post at my 2 Penny Blog Podcast.

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We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers and sisters. (1John 3:16)

During a recent children’s message, I introduced the children present to my stuffed animal friend, Tommy Tatanka. (Tatanka means buffalo in the Lakota language, and that’s what Tommy is.) I bought Tommy when visiting the National Buffalo Museum in Jamestown, ND, because I thought seeing it would help me remember my Lakota children and youth at St. Joseph’s Indian School. The motto for the school is: “We serve and teach. We receive and learn.” This reminds us that our relationships are meant to be reciprocal, and I received and learned much from the Native students and their families. I mentioned during the children’s message as we explored the story of the creation of the first family in Genesis 2 that the Lakota had a saying used often in prayer, sacred story, and at other times: Mitakuye Oyasin (“We are all related”). They seek to remember that the human family remains in relationship with one another and all of creation much as many Psalms and other biblical citations suggest.  

In Lakota Christian communities, you might often see this concept represented concretely. Amidst traditional Christian symbols of the cross, candles (representing the light of Christ), Christograms (such as the ancient Alpha and Omega symbol for Jesus ), a butterfly (a more modern symbol of resurrection and new life), or perhaps an ichthys fish symbol (reportedly used by ancient Christians to help people recognize churches and other believers during a time when they faced persecution in the Roman Empire), among all these things and more, you might find Native religious symbology as well. For example, one might see a buffalo skull. Why a buffalo skull? In past times, the buffalo was hunted for food, but every part of the buffalo would be used by the tribe for clothing, shelter, or tools. Nothing would be wasted. The Lakota still believe that because of the American buffalo’s great importance to the people, a buffalo skull should rightly be present at sacred Lakota rituals. The skull represents a powerful animal that gives completely of itself for others. The buffalo is a symbol of self-sacrifice, and for Lakota Christians, the skull often helps remind them of Jesus’ own sacrifice for our sake.

Yet, the buffalo proved an important role model to our students as well. In the fierce winter storms, the buffalo always faces the wind. It survives by addressing things head on. This becomes inspirational for the students as they face new challenges or experiences, or as they deal with losses or trauma. For Christian Lakota, it can remind them to pick up their cross as Jesus did in the service of others.

As I write this, St. Joseph’s Indian School is about to have their annual student pow wow. It serves as a reunion of sorts, but it also becomes a time for families of the community and from across the US to gather. The children and youth dance and sing remembering their relatives of the past proudly even as they sing with hope for the future. In loving one another, we find hope. I discovered that we can even meet Jesus.

Happy Native American Heritage Month to one and all!

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations for this post are from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) translation.

Adapted from an article originally published in the October 2023 newsletter of Christ Lutheran Church, Fredericksburg, VA.

© 2023 The Rev. Louis Florio. All content not held under another’s copyright may not be used without permission of the author.

Beyond our tribal nature

Ruth and Naomi Giclée and Archival Print, by Yael Harris Resnick.
Available at yaelharrisresnick.com/

This sermon on  Ruth 1:1-17 and Mark 3:33-35 was preached at Christ Lutheran Church (Fredericksburg, VA) on the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost, October 15, 2023. You can also find a recording of this post at my 2 Penny Blog Podcast.

Mother-in-laws can get a bad rap. True, sometimes their relationships with their son or daughter-in-laws may be difficult, and mother-in-law jokes abound, yet they can be a gift. I’m fortunate that my own mother-in-law has always supported and encouraged me even if my own mother did not at times. Now, she’s not afraid to challenge me, but she always does so with dignity, love, and grace. So, I feel very blessed. That is why I often introduce her as my favorite mother-in-law (she’s my only one), and I jokingly tell people I am her favorite son-in-law. This doesn’t always go over big with my brother-in-laws in Pennsylvania and Ohio, but she reminds me that I am her favorite son-in-law in Virginia. She loves and appreciates each of us as if we are all her favorite one.

Surely, defining and understanding family and tribal relationships is not always easy. Getting along with others never truly is. And so, Jesus often uses familial language in very broad terms. He encourages his disciples to think of one another as brothers and sisters…siblings of God. And on the cross, he turns to a beloved disciple and his mother, and gifts them to one another: “Woman, behold your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” (see John 19:25-29). He does not want his widowed mother to be alone. It is a very moving scene. His teachings stretch the common understanding of the time surrounding tribe and family.

In indigenous, tribal populations, adoption was and remains common. There were mechanisms and rituals to adopt people into the tribe and family, and in some cases, a murderer might even be adopted into a family to replace the son or daughter who had died. Tribes throughout the earth often had mechanisms to create extended or what scholars might call “fictive family.” It was good for society and individuals to have connection. This broad idea of family reaches from ancient tribal times into Jesus’ world, and into our own time. This practice crosses cultures, including Jewish culture, although with varied rules. I’d wager many of us here today are god-parents or “aunties” or “uncles” to people of which we have no blood relationship. I have twenty-three people who love me as their uncle and call me that – eight of which have no blood relationship. When it comes down to it, what defines family is not laws, culture, or social practices. It rests on a decision to love another person as family. That’s it. We choose to love.

Sure, family is important sociologically. Tribal and national identities in their best sense may serve to unite and protect us. Yet, in our DNA, perhaps reflecting the realities of a fallen world, some genetic and sociological studies suggest that even infants are designed to inherently trust those who look like them more than those who don’t, and this might extend into adulthood.[i] If these studies prove true, some suggest this could reflect an instinct for tribal relationships built into our survival skills. Outsiders (those who look different) rightly or wrongly can be viewed as a potential threat (outside the “tribe”). Certainly, sociological impacts and experiences can influence this too, fermenting racism and other forms of hatred. Sin can play upon our human nature – magnifying it negatively even when some traits might have been implanted in us to help protect us in a dangerous world. 

Upon reflection, we see a tension here. There might be an instinctual, fallen tug on us to limit who we see as neighbors or family, but God wants more for us. We can be tempted to dehumanize those who are against us, but Jesus teaches us another way. All the while, God pulls us toward reconciliation and trust – if not unity. That’s God’s promised goal. And yet, the ancient Israelites often interpreted the Ten Commandments application quite tribally. You shall not steal, or murder, or covet another’s property unless perhaps it was someone in a non-Israelite tribe. This ethical construct proved true among many indigenous populations too, including Native American tribes. It wasn’t unique. It was conventional thought.

A lot of this tribal thinking had to do with interpretation, context, and understanding. Familial and tribal relationships were seen through the lens of a dangerous world, and so although exceptions were made, these boundaries tended to be quite strong. Yet if you look deeper at the Mosaic Law, the call was always there for kindness to the foreigners, poor and outcasts among the Israelites. Despite this, in Jesus’ time, outsiders could still be looked upon and treated as an “other” – there were some people with less rights socially, or they became someone yoiu should distance oneself from in order to maintain religious purity, safety, or help ensure cultural, political or personal survival.

In response, Jesus stretches this human understanding toward the divine’s own. He ate with outsiders. He forgave serious sinners. Heroes in his stories could be from the hated Samaritans or Canaanites. When asked about the identity of our neighbors so that we could love them, Jesus interpreted this in the most open way possible. He taught neighbors were anyone around us, regardless of their ethnic, religious, or socio-economic status. When asked who his followers should treat like siblings, an even closer social status, Jesus answers, “Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” Again…not just someone who believes exactly as I do, but those who do God’s will are our siblings.

In life, relationships are complicated, and few families don’t experience discord over politics, inheritance, or even who loves who more at times. Families remain necessary in a difficult world, but they can have issues. These past years and days sadly remind us that nations can be necessary due to very real dangers. And yet, as a fallen humanity, we don’t always love God or our neighbors as God intended. In return, some family members or neighbors can mean us harm or become toxic to us. Despite our best efforts, ancient tribal animosities may rise within us, and wars might start causing people to argue over who started what…and thus we hurt innocents all along our way.

True, God never called us to be doormats. Sometimes, to turn the other cheek means we turn and walk away. Yet at other times, many Christian theologians (those not explicitly pacisfist) tend to argue that force might be necessary at times – the most limited force possible with the least number of innocents lost…yet force, nonetheless. In any war, even the best of wars, innocents will die. As a former police officer and soldier trained to use force, with friends and acquaintances who have used lethal force, I know that such force can leave a mark on a person’s soul. Moral injury (which is when one feels they have acted outside their conscience or moral compass) is real. I deal with that at times counseling others as a chaplain. And our Orthodox siblings even invite soldiers to confess as a healing medicine no matter how just a conflict. They do so because the best of wars is interwoven with the stain of human sin – always. Our brother’s blood can be heard crying out to us from the ground, like a voice calling for revenge, as it did when Caine killed Able (Gen. 4:10). There is just something inherently wrong with war and killing people even when necessary in a fallen, messed up, dangerous world. It is never God’s hope for us, our families, or the world.

And so, wars may come whether we wish it or not. Violence might visit our household at any time, because people can be overcome by sin and do evil things toward us and the one’s entrusted to our care. We, too, can err. Yet as we seek to discern our own call in response to the realities around us, whether pacifist or warrior or somewhere in between, Jesus’ perhaps hardest challenge to human reason remains. How can we best love even our enemy?

This past week, I have had many ask my opinion on the recent, horrific terrorism and resulting conflict in Israel. I don’t know the full answer. Perhaps, I don’t really have any answers in a situation that is embedded in centuries of ethnic, political, and religious struggles. Yet, I do know that terrorism, racism, antisemitism, and any calls for genocide or war crimes must be clearly and unequivocally condemned…always. Facing this, we are to seek to love everyone – especially the most vulnerable among us – and always pray for our enemies. From the Mosaic Laws, prophetic teachings, and Jesus’ own words, we are seek to show mercy even as we strive for justice…even when fighting for life and death.

So, as the Lutheran World Federation has done, we can urge all sides to value the innocent, respect life, and uphold international law.[ii] For when all is said and done, Jesus was sent to offer salvation for all people, and the Lord intends to bring all peoples to himself. Some might reject Jesus…some might hate us…try to hurt or kill us…but forgiveness, mercy, and love are Christ’s work among us even now…This is God’s will that is trying to work through us. Yet, it remains a tough go…it can seem an impossibility.

And so perhaps it is a gift that the Narrative Lectionary draws our eyes to the very ancient story of Ruth and its possibilities this day. The story is from the time when Judges ruled the Jewish tribes. (Judges, you might recall, were like chieftains of the Jewish tribes before the monarchy. Some were prophetic and spiritual, and some were great warriors just as with the Lakota I worked and lived with.) Those days were a chaotic time. The Tribes were free from slavery. They were finally in the Promised Land, but they were not always good to one another. Also, enemies still abounded because they had not fully defeated the resident tribes as God ordered. Despite the direct commands of God (the Ten Commandments) and all that Moses had taught in his law applying those commandments, people still flirted with foreign gods and did not love their neighbor. And so, the Book of Judges tells us that it was a morally questionable time, “In those days,” it says, “there was no king in Israel.” (One might also argue that God was not even appropriately king of their lives.) And it goes on, “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25).

And yet in the face of this reality, we have this mother-in-law and daughter-in-law lifted up to us for our examination. They are of different tribes (Jewish and Moabite), and despite this, they boldly hold onto one another in love as family. Our Jewish siblings often read this story on the Feast of Shavuot (also known as Pentecost, celebrated fifty days after Passover). It is a time when they remember the gift of the Law (the Ten Commandments) given to Moses. (We Christians tend to remember the gift of the Spirit arriving on Pentecost.)

For her part, Ruth, the non-Jew, receives and accepts God as her God and in effect promises to live by the Torah – receives the Law as her own. The promises of God thus become her gift as well through faith. In another parallel with the feast, the story happens during the harvest, and the feast gives thanks to God for God’s bounty. It is an ancient and surprising story thought to originate in the Judges period and was orally transmitted until written down after the Babylon exile had ended. (I’d encourage you to read the complete story at home this week. It is short, but very engaging and informative.)   

Ruth’s name means “compassionate friend,” and as is often the case with ancient tribal names, she is just that. Naomi had married a Moabite, as had her now deceased son, and that’s how Ruth and she came into relationship despite being from different peoples. Naomi wanted to accept her fate among her Jewish people. For her part, Ruth could have gone back to her own people, but she feared Naomi might starve or come to harm. So, in the face of danger, she stays regardless of consequences. She stays out of love.

In a patriarchal time, they have no husbands and no sons. They have no one to legally or culturally represent or protect them. They have no formal social safety net, but they do have the law of the Lord which calls for the people to love widows, orphans, and aliens. They have allowances for gleaning fileds to help care for for those in need. On top of that, the Mosaic code calls for a Redeemer (a Goel). A Redeemer is a person who, as the nearest relative of someone, is charged with the duty of restoring that person’s rights and avenging wrongs done to him or her. This duty and eventual love of Boaz, a faithful and observant Jew, becomes a mechanism for Ruth’s formal adoption into the people of Israel. It happens as he comes to see the inner beauty, love, and faithfulness of Ruth underneath any family or tribal name.

As I said, this story was likely written down upon the return of the exiled community. They came back to a land where only a small, faithful remnant remained, and Jewish women and men had come to marry into other tribes. It was a hot button issue of sorts at the time. In addressing this historic reality, A Jewish resource states, “Rabbis use her story to show that true ‘Jewishness’ is judged not by ancestry, but by acceptance of God and the mitzvot [commands of the Torah]. Indeed, it is from this convert’s line,” they teach, “that the savior of the Jewish people must be born.”[iii]

One might say that she was saved by grace through faith in the one true God, the faith of Abraham, and we as Christians believe that the ultimate Savior, Jesus has come. You should remember that as time unfolds, Ruth becomes the great-grandmother of King David and ultimately an ancestor of Jesus. Yes, even Jesus was not purely Jewish. (How appropriate for a person who has come to save the entire world, regardless of tribe or family status.)

For Jewish believers and Christians alike, Ruth is a model of steadfast love and mercy. In Hebrew, this is called hesed. It is loving kindness often offered to those who do not deserve it. It is love for love’s sake, As we wrestle with our anger or fear, as we face evil in the world or the hearts of others, perhaps we should seek to remember Ruth’s story. It challenges us not to sin in our anger, or exact revenge instead of justice, or ignore the suffering even of our enemies. For God hopes they will become part of out family, too. One seminary professor writes, “Like many other Old and New Testament passages (Exodus 4, Joshua 2, 2 Samuel 11, Acts 10:34-5, Romans 2:14-5), [the Book of Ruth] shows us that loyalty and faithfulness includes us among God’s people, not biology, genetics, culture, or history.”[iv] For whether we want it or not, always like it or not, God is calling us to ultimately live like family with one another.

So, tough love might sometimes be needed. Separation for a time for the sake of safety might be required in certain circumstances. Consequences, justice, or even war come to pass as needed. Yet, empathy, compassion, and love – no matter if one deserves it or not – always remains our ultimate call from God. Hesed should inform any action.

Yes, I know that we all will struggle with this as a fallen humanity prone to sin and holding grudges. True, we might never clearly see such an idyllic world come to pass in our lifetime. And still, God invites us to join in his holy efforts. Christ wills to draw all people to himself. The Holy Spirit ferments communion and seeks to transform the heart of everyone in love.

Whether others do or not, we are asked to strive to make hesed a reality and our ethical norm for all our actions…to seek to live like Naomi and Ruth. No matter how hopeless it sometimes seems; we are asked to hope in and live for God. For this is God’s will, and someday it will come to passs. Amen.

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[i] Although still debated, for just one such study as an example, visit: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2566511/#:~:text=Whereas%20our%20findings%20show%20that,Caucasian%20infants%20display%20a%20novelty.

[ii] Find it here: https://lutheranworld.org/news/israel-and-palestine-civilians-must-be-protected-and-hostages-released?fbclid=IwAR14oZVrD0dJeCv0s85URHIL0oPE7Uj36PadcsO4LPC-c2zEVGwtw1Ij2z8

[iii] See the entry for “Ruth” in the Jewish Virtual Library at https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/ruth

[iv] See https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/narrative-lectionary/ruth-3/commentary-on-ruth-11-17-3

I will try to trust in God

Original image by Annie Spratt on Unsplash. Used by permission.

[Job cried out,] “Though he kill/slay/murder me, yet will I trust in him” (Job 13:15a).

The world seems a scary place right now, filled with violence, fear, and grief for many. (To some extent, this is always true, but it is harder for me to ignore evil as I write.) Hamas terrorists have just mercilessly attacked Israeli civilians. Israel in return is preparing to enter Gaza. I’ve seen some people call for a nuclear response. I’ve witnessed neighbors turn on neighbor. War might spread. Things are grim, and we might feel a bit like Job. “Is God against us? Why are we suffering? Where is God?”

Evil can be prevalent in the world and capture our vision at times. It can blind us to God’s love, but we are promised by Jesus that God is always reaching out to save us. As a Christian song (Hallelujah, You are Good, by Steven Curtis Chapman) proclaims to God in an early version, “You are with us, You are for us, Hallelujah, You are good.” This song was written sometime after the musician had lost his beloved daughter in an accident. A sibling backed over her as she played in the driveway, and his daughter died.

What kind of faith is this that can trust even when one’s heart is broken? It is the faith we are invited to share. It is a faith in a God who promises to bind up the injured, heal the sick, and free the captives. It is faith in a God who comforted Joseph in prison and freed his descendants and extended family from slavery. It is faith in a God who was willing to die for us, so that we can truly live.

Yes, as the song says, faith will give way to fear at times. We won’t always feel God near, and what we dread most might come to pass (and with it tears). Yet, Steven Curtis Chapman and his family decided to seek to trust God’s heart, a divine heart that seeks to embrace us in love and give us new life. This is a bit of the faith of Job who lost all his family. There was no good reason for this evil and loss. Job could not understand. He was in shock and despair. Despite his tears and pain, he worshipped God anyway. He strove to trust, and he recognized evil does not come from God, a God who we learn from Jesus is only love. No, God is our Comforter, and God will be made manifest to us in times like these. “Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high” (Job 16:19).

I don’t know answers to the pains of this world – perhaps only hints at best – but I know our Redeemer is alive and lives for us. We are told this by God repeatedly. And I know as the Body of Christ, called, claimed, and baptized, we must remind ourselves and others amidst our pain that God is with us always. We can show this through words and deeds as we seek to share hope with the hopeless – even as we might struggle with hope ourselves.

Facing the calamities of his own time, a prophet once said on God’s behalf, “Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me” (Isa. 46:9). Age to age, God remains the same, and it is this same God who loves us now. And so, with Job, I place my “hand over my mouth.” I will try to wait, watch, listen, and trust. I will seek love my neighbor as myself. Death has already lost, and in Christ, we have already won. Hallelujah, God is good. God is ours. And may we never forget, we remain God’s forever. This truth can give us courage.

Originally submitted for publishing in the November newsletter of Christ Lutheran Church, Fredericksburg, VA.

© 2023 The Rev. Louis Florio. All content not held under another’s copyright may not be used without permission of the author.

Steven Curtis Chapman’s song….

https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fsaddlebackchurch%2Fvideos%2F10155101538943544%2F&show_text=false&width=560&t=0

Hope might not mean what we think it means

St. Peter and St. Paul etching from the Roman Catacombs containing an ancient Chi-Rho symbol, a christogram representing the first letters of “Christ” and thus Jesus himself. Etching CC BY-SA, Image source worldhistory.org.

This sermon was preached at Christ Lutheran Church (Fredericksburg, VA) on the Sixth Sunday in Easter, May 14, 2023.You can find the text of this sermon and a video of me preaching it below.

As humans, we can hope for all kinds of things. We can hope it doesn’t rain. We can hope we get good grades. As in so many Disney movies, we might hope that one day our prince or princess might come. We may even hope just to get through another difficult day.[i] As humans, we would love to be in control of our future. And in some ways, yes, our decisions and efforts can impact our outcomes positively or negatively. Yet, there’s much more that we cannot control. People who we count on might fail us, or gremlins seem to take over the mechanisms of our day. Unexpected storms come too.

Therefore, some people go beyond the entertainment of astrology and seek to use it as a guide. There are still people today who cast spells and make incantations hoping for their desired outcome. We might also know Christians that hang onto a religious medal or a cross as if they were a lucky rabbit’s foot. We all can fall into such traps at times. Hopeful thinking can easily become wishful thinking or even magical thinking. “If I do this just right, God will surely give me that or do this” – as if we cantrol God. There’s a reason scripture argues against such things. God wants us to remember that we aren’t God. We cannot control everything no matter how hard we try. We cannot bribe God to love us more than God already does. No amount of manipulation or preparation or wishing can make us perfectly prepared for the life that lies ahead. Only God’s love has that power. So, why don’t we trust in God’s love offered to us so freely?

Isn’t it interesting that Paul writes so much about hope? He does so because Paul’s concept of hope isn’t made of powerless wishes. It is based on jesus. Paul hopes because he trusts in the Triune God: a god who created us out of love, who died for our sake, and who is with us now (loving and trying to guide us!) amidst any suffering or challenge. It is that god, our God, who will never let us go – who promises to help us get through our days. Paul knows full well that things will go wrong (not might go wrong but will go wrong at times). He has had friends die. He was almost stoned to death himself and was shipwrecked in a storm. He was imprisoned. he was abused. Paul knows life is hard and unfair, but he also knows with his head, and more importantly trusts deep in his heart, that a God who is love will never fail or abandon us; will never lie to us. God in Jesus Christ has promised to never do so with his blood; dying for our sake.

Certainly, we must remember that Paul was incredibly gifted at the art of rhetoric. As a Pharisee, he had to be, and those skills helped him as a converted Apostle. We startg today in Chapter 3 of his “Letter to the Romans.” That’s his latest and last letter that we know about, likely reflecting his most developed understanding of God’s love. It it he proclaims Good News. After unpacking our common sins…that we can make almost anything an idol and we struggle with sin in both body and mind….after warning about hypocrites (perhaps you and me at times) who call out people for sin while blind to their own…Paul proclaims Good News for all of us in our shared sinfulness: A person is justified by faith apart from any works that we can do. Whew, the pressures off! God is not expecting perfection from us, because we cannot attain it.

In Christ, God had promised grace and peace for us, not toil and burden. In return, all that Christ asks of us to be his agents of peace and reconciliation in the world (2 Corinthians 5:11-21) reflecting God’s own love for us. One scholar writes, “Romans as a whole is about Paul’s appeal to new relationships, of which human beings fail to extend to others outside of their cultural circles.”[ii] We tend to judge people. Remember, it seems that perhaps Jewish-Christians and Gentile-Christians in that Roman community experienced tension and mutual condemnations at times. As with so many of Paul’s letters, he is concerned with our unity in the body of Christ. As God is one, we are to try to be one. Not only that, but God will also save us in the same way. Paul writes, God “will justify the circumcised on the ground of faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith” (Romans 3:30, emphasis mine). Faith is the key.

Digging deeper into his very dense writing style and theology, we see the name of our Lord Jesus Christ begin and end this important section of Chapter 5 like two bookends. Everything in our lives, he will argue, is encompassed by Christ, the Alpha and Omega. Everything is based upon “God’s faithfulness through Jesus and how our lives are different under Jesus’ lordship.”[iii] This is the point in his argument where he will pivot from the problem of sin and disunity and point us toward what God is doing now and will come next – our assurance of salvation and ongoing transformation by the Holy Spirit through our faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus death and resurrection has changed everything for us. We are not in the same situation due to Christ’s death and resurrection. There’s an access to God in a new way…our relationship has changed. He points to what God is doing now and what will happen next. We find even now that we are already loved….already victorious. He addresses the past, present, and future where our God has been and will be proven always faithful even as we struggle to be faithful ourselves.

Already, Paul has alluded to the faith of Abraham and God’s covenant with the Jewish people. God made a promise to Abraham and his descendants. God has made a similar promise through Christ. This timeless promise is being offered to all, for God’s love is an expansive, growing, encircling love…embracing love. For not only did God make a promise to Abraham, God promised in the Jewish Testament that the Jewish people would be used to bless all the world’s people so that they could be included in this promise too. As argued elsewhere, “Paul insists that God is the God of Israel specifically.” (in the Hebrew scriptures the Lord is called our God remember), yet God is “not ‘only’ the God of Israel.”[iv] Indeed, in and through Jesus Christ, “God has been faithful to both Israel and the Gentiles simultaneously.”[v]

True, a critical symbol of that faith and covenant for the Jews was circumcision. Some in that ancient time argued circumcision was helpful for hygiene but also helpful for procreation. We might debate these beliefs today with our understanding of medical science, but symbolically what we have is a covenant not just about a promised land but also about people[vi], a people God promised would be numbered more than the grains of sand on any beach or stars in the heavens. In the ancient Jewish understanding, “the particular aspect of circumcision that saves is said to be the blood that is shed.” It is a kind of ancient blood pact between God and God’s people. In fact, the ritual requires at least one drop of blood to symbolize this joining of God and God’s people. As the bleeding occurs, the circumciser quotes Ezekiel 16:6, “As you lay in your blood…live.”

No, Paul doesn’t rail against circumcision. He has just come to understand that the act isn’t saving in and of itself. He remembers Genesis 15:6 (recounting a time before Abraham was ever circumcised) where “Abraham already had faith in the Lord, who reckoned it to his merit.” (It was a justifying, saving faith.) For Paul, through Christ’s own sacrifice, he has come to understand faith in God is what saves. Through the cross, Christ’s own blood is poured, and with it, a promise of new life was declared. Something did change with Jesus’ dying and rising in a way not even Abraham dared hope for. The Holy Spirit can now reside in our hearts. That’s all true, Jesus acted to save us and fulfill the Law. Still, trust in Christ’s final sacrifice saves us, as much as Abraham’s trust in God saved him. In trusting God’s love and promises for us, we become part of God’s plan…claimed by God “for a future filled with hope” (Jeremiah 29:11)…We enter into a life where all things become possible for those who believe (Mark 9:23).

In our modern world, we tend to delude ourselves that we control our destiny. We can seek to avoid suffering, but suffering and disappointment will come for us all at times. We might even confuse God’s love as if it is the absence of suffering. (Why would we do so, when Jesus and the early Apostles who he loved suffered so much. The absence of suffering does not prove God’s love.) Yet looking back through the history of salvation, Paul recognizes something else entirely. He sees that God uses all of it – both good and bad. Through those experiences, God will make good come for the glory of God and our ultimate benefit (Romans 8:28). In his mind, Paul has come to understand that “suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” Justified by Christ’s blood, redeemed by his own sacrifice, God will never forsake us or forget us even if our parents were ever to do so (Psalm 27:10). We are never asked to be perfect. We are only asked to trust and try…try in response to love as God has loved us (1 John 4:19) in thanksgiving.

As the weights of this world oppress us, whatever those weights might be for you, we can live in hope – not in magical thinking, not in others, not even in ourselves. Like Paul, we can hope in God’s steadfast love and promise at work even now. God’s love has been poured out to bring us peace…to live in us and flow through us out into the world. Faith…trust…in this new reality…turns the worst of our days into a new day of hope where we will live to witness that God’s love never fails (1 Corinthians 13)…where we will experience firsthand and eternally “God with Us.” Amen.

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[i] Elizabeth Shively, Lecturer in New Testament Studies, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Scotland, UK. Working Preacher (2017). https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-11/commentary-on-romans-51-8-2.

[ii] Israel Kamudzandu, Associate Professor of New Testament Studies, Saint Paul School of Theology. Working Preacher (2020) https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/third-sunday-in-lent/commentary-on-romans-51-11-6

[iii] Sarah Henrich, Professor Emerita of New Testament, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota, Working Preacher (2008) https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/third-sunday-in-lent/commentary-on-romans-51-11-3.

[iv] Levine, A. and Zvi Brettler, M., Editors (2017). The Jewish Annotated New Testament 2nd Edition. “God is one for all humanity (Rom. 3:30).” New York: Oxford University Press USA.

[v] Ibid., “God is one for all humanity (Rom. 3:30).”

[vi] Ibid, “Circumcision.”

My children’s sermon begins at about the 17:35 minute mark. My sermon begins at about the 25:45 minute mark. Preaching text: Romans 3:28-30 and 5:1-11.

In darkness, Jesus remains our Light.

Photo by Federico Respini on Unsplash. Used by permission.

You can find a recording of this post at my 2 Penny Blog Podcast.

I struggle to imagine the fear the first disciples felt. Yet, I expect that the disciples could at best only approach the open tomb hesitantly; not knowing what to expect themselves. As they peered into the darkness, could they find a spark of hope? Dare they believe what seemed impossible? Looking into the opening before them, how could they not become frozen by fear? And yet, in the end, they entered the tomb.

Considering their experience, I can find many parallels with our own lives. Any time we face change or uncertainty, we can start to focus on fear and forget whose we are. Facing major obstacles, we can shrink before their seeming power and enormity ignoring the even larger, more powerful God who stands with us. In our weakness, we can feel small and alone. Our future can seem as if entombed in darkness.

If the first disciples had not stepped into the darkness of the cave, they might not have discovered the glory of God at work in their lives. If they had not later gone into strange and sometimes threatening communities, often facing persecution if not death, Christ’s light might not have shown as brightly in the world. Sometimes, all we can do is walk into the darkness as the early disciples did, trying to trust that God’s light and love are already waiting to be discovered there.

“We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose,” wrote St. Paul (Romans 8:28). As we relive the events of Holy Week, we recall the darkness of Christ’s extensive suffering and death. However, we would not encounter them the same if he had not risen. These terrible things were allowed to happen, so that the world could be blessed. Bad things can happen to us, or we might fall short, and still, God promises to love us and to turn our “bad” into the goodness of God. God’s light seeks to be revealed in and through our complicated, sometimes frightening lives.

As we see darkness at work inside or outside of ourselves, we need to remember the life changing and sustaining truth, “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!” The beloved chant from Taizé comes to my mind and proves true. “Our darkness is never darkness in [God’s] sight. The deepest night is clear as the daylight.” We can get through it, whatever “it” is. We can let things go as we must, so that we can hold onto grace all the more and move forward more freely. We just need to trust. For Christ remains our light, no matter what we do or fail to do, whatever powers rise against us. Jesus remains our light shining in the darkness even when our eyes cannot sense him. He rose, not for his own sake, but for our own.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations for this post are from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) translation.

Originally published in the April newsletter of Christ Lutheran Church, Fredericksburg, VA.

© 2023 The Rev. Louis Florio. All content not held under another’s copyright may not be used without permission of the author.

St. Joseph’s Day: Faith & food go well together

The Holy Family in Egypt, Coptic Orthodox icon

Most everyone in the United States recognizes St. Patrick’s Day (March 17) as a day for fun and wearing green. The genesis of our modern celebration comes from the many past Irish immigrants to the United States. We can trace the celebration’s origins back to New York in 1762 when Irish soldiers serving in the British military marched through the city to commemorate the “holy day,” giving rise to one of the most famous parades in the world.[i] Yet at its heart, St. Patrick’s Day is a religious feast day on the liturgical calendar. In Ireland, families traditionally go to church and have festive dinners. Although to be frank, the American style of celebration (too often centered on drinking beer to excess) has begun to impact Ireland over the last decades.

However, St. Patrick’s Day is not the only big day during this coming week. Just two days later (March 19), we mark the religious Feast of St. Joseph. Like the story of St. Patrick’s Day, Italian immigrants maintained and expanded upon traditions from home, as did Czechs, Poles, and many others who are inspired by St. Joseph. In many Italian communities, St. Joseph’s Day is HUGE. Reasons for this affection vary. There are indeed mythic if not superstitious stories of people saved from famine, shipwreck, or other calamity when they asked for St. Joseph’s blessing. Although we Lutherans reject the petitioning saints[ii] for aid since the Reformation, Lutherans still have Joseph on our liturgical calendars on March 19. The Church gives God thanks for Joseph’s loving life and witness of faith, and since at least the 9th Century, Joseph has been honored with the titles of Guardian, Educator, or Adoptive Father of our Lord.

With the feasts close association to the Italian community, how do people traditionally celebrate? Well, some cities offer special worship, festivals, or parades. Italians in New Orleans will have their parade on March 25^th this year. Bostonians, near where I grew up, wait until July for their major festival. With St. Joseph’s Day falling on a Sunday in 2023, some will celebrate on the following Monday.

As they celebrate St. Joseph’s Day, people often wear red in the United States. I’ve not been able to determine why. I suspect it might be related to Joseph’s being a patron of workers in Catholicism. Workers movements often wear red, and as a carpenter (or builder) himself[iii], St, Joseph has been historically held up in opposition to Communism. In 1955, an additional feast day was declared by Pope Pius XII and is celebrated on May 1, International Workers’ Day (or May Day), rebranded as the separate Feast of St. Joseph the Worker.[iv]

Yet in light of his role in the Holy Family, people often seek to celebrate “family” as they remember St. Joseph. As they gather, families might create large St. Joseph Tables (or St. Joseph Altars) with three tiers of food, three representing the Trinity. These are sometimes created in a cross shape. People place flowers, limes, wine, fava beans, cakes, breads, cookies, and other meatless dishes (due to the feast day falling during Lent), as well as zeppole, an Italian pastry consisting of a deep-fried dough ball of varying size. Zeppole is often topped with powdered sugar or filled with custard, jelly, cannoli-style pastry cream, or a butter-and-honey mixture. In lieu of zeppole, a treat popular in Naples, Sicilians tend to prefer Sfingi, donuts that are often made from a dough of flour, sugar, eggs, and ricotta and rolled in sugar.

Why so many pastries? There’s an old legend that while exiled in Egypt, Joseph supported his family by selling…pancakes! (This was not necessarily our modern dish but suggests a Middle Eastern bread-like meal like pancakes.) Indeed, March 19^th serves as Father’s Day in Italy. Originating in Tuscany and Umbria, Frittelle di San Giuseppe, a fried rice “pancake” (more like a small American doughnut), is now often served throughout the nation. If you are afraid to make such traditional Italian pastries and treats yourself, they are usually available on St. Joseph’s Day at local Italian deli-bakeries. Just ask. If that’s not for you, why not just have a pancake supper with your family?

Embodying sacred stories in celebration help create wonderful memories, but they also can plant seeds of faith. Thus, many Italians prepare special Lenten dishes that include breadcrumbs. The crumbs are meant to remind us of the Joseph’s vocation as a carpenter. You can also find artisan breads of varied shapes: a Latin cross (to remember Christ’s sacrifice), a baby (to honor Joseph’s role in the Holy Family), St. Joseph’s staff (legend has it that St. Joseph’s staff blossomed into a lily, a symbol both of life and death), a purse (a reminder to give alms), a sheaf of wheat (reminding us of John 12:24-26 but turned upside down serves as St. Joseph’s Beard), and many more.[v]

Due to the Joseph-related stories involving famine in Sicily, food proves a large part of the festival. Yet it isn’t a day for self-indulgence, hospitality is the goal along with providing food to any hungry neighbors. Making donations to help meet the needs of others is a common, important family or congregational activity. You might run across congregations inviting you to come help fill “St. Joseph Bags” for the hungry. People might give extra alms. So, perhaps you might like to make a special donation to a food bank, pantry, or other service organization this year? Donating to enCircle (formally Lutheran Family Services of Virginia) might be a worthy charity as they do so much work supporting families and foster care children.

Whatever you do to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, St. Joseph’s Day, or any holiday, I encourage you to seek activities that nurture relationship, teach and affirm our faith, and serve our neighbor. If you have some fun as well, that’s ok too.

For those who want to an authentic dish, you can find a recipe for one version of Pasta di San Giuseppe (Pasta of St. Joseph) that I used last year here: https://orderisda.org/culture/our-recipes/authentic-st-josephs-day-pasta/

Image property of Italian Sons and Daughters of America.

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[i] O’Brian, S. (March 7, 2023). How did St. Patrick die. Irish Central. Downloaded on March 8 at https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/how-did-saint-patrick-die.

[ii] Lutherans do have feast days to remember the life and Christian witness of remarkable people, but they serve as models for us, “that we may follow their faith and good works, according to our calling.” We do not “pray to saints” (ask for their intercession), as “we have an Advocate with the Father” (1 John 2:1). Learn more by reading Article XXI, Of the Worship of the Saints, in the Augsburg Confession: https://bookofconcord.org/augsburg-confession/of-worship-of-saints/ You might also like to read Article II, Of the Mass, in the Smalcald Articles: https://bookofconcord.org/smalcald-articles/ii/of-the-mass/

[iii] Although commonly called a carpenter, it might not be that simple. “The word the Gospels use is téktōn, a common term used for artisans, craftsmen, and woodworkers (so, yes, it can translate as “carpenter”), but also, interestingly, it can refer to stonemasons, builders, construction workers, or even to those who excel in their trade and are able to teach others (as in the Italian maestro).” See Esparaza, D. (February 8, 2019). Aletia. Were Jesus and Joseph Really Carpenters as downloaded on March 14, 2023 from https://aleteia.org/2019/02/08/were-jesus-and-joseph-really-carpenters/

[iv] See https://www.sju.edu/news/10-facts-about-st-joseph-honor-his-feast-day

[v] Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte (2020). St. Joseph’s Table: An Italian tradition as downloaded at https://yearofstjoseph.org/devotions/st-joseph-table/

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Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations for this post are from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) translation.

Originally published in the March 14, 2023 weekly newsletter, the Hub, of Christ Lutheran Church, Fredericksburg, VA, it was expanded upon for this post.

© 2023 The Rev. Louis Florio. All content not held under another’s copyright may not be used without permission of the author.

What did St. Patrick know that we should too?

Ring of Kerry, Photo by Nils Nedel on Unsplash. Used by permisson.

You can find a recording of this post at my 2 Penny Blog Podcast.

There’s an old prayer attributed to St. Patrick. As with many of Martin Luther’s own hymns, the style mimics that of the culture around him. It echoes druidic incantations of the day for protection on a journey. Invoking the Trinity and reflecting the many signs of blessing that can help us greet any new day with confidence, his long prayer ends with these words:

Christ with me,

Christ before me,

Christ behind me,

Christ in me,

Christ beneath me,

Christ above me,

Christ on my right,

Christ on my left,

Christ when I lie down,

Christ when I sit down,

Christ when I arise,

Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,

Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,

Christ in every eye that sees me,

Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today

Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,

Through belief in the Threeness,

Through confession of the Oneness

of the Creator of creation.

The prayer is known as St. Patrick’s Breastplate. Translated into English verse by Cecil Frances Alexander in 1889, it inspired the hymn “I bind unto Myself Today” found in our worship book (ELW #450).

St. Patrick had quite a challenging life. Although some details might be more mythic than truth due to his living so long ago (5th Century AD), it is generally accepted that he was born the son of a decurion (Senator and tax collector) in a Roman city of Britain. His grandfather, Potitus, is reported to have been a priest from Bonaven Tabernia, but it appears Patrick did not actively practice the Christian faith as a youth.

According to the Confession of St. Patrick, he was kidnapped when young and enslaved by Irish pirates. Escaping after six years as a slave in Ireland (perhaps with signs of divine intervention depending on the story), he made it back home. Patrick went on to become an active Christian and eventually a priest. That might have been enough of a story on its own, but one day, he had a vision. He wrote, “I saw a man coming, as it were from Ireland. His name was Victoricus, and he carried many letters, and he gave me one of them. I read the heading: ‘The Voice of the Irish’. As I began the letter, I imagined in that moment that I heard the voice of those very people who were near the wood of Foclut, which is beside the western sea—and they cried out, as with one voice: ‘We appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come and walk among us.’” Despite his past enslavement, Patrick ended up returning to Ireland as a missionary and bishop.

We cannot know all the struggles of faith and other tribulations Patrick faced during his lifetime, but his words and example can be instructive for us. Whatever our situation, trust Christ is with you. Whatever your call, know that Christ desires to be reflected in your work. In all our relationships, seek to love others, including our enemies. In striving to do this, even imperfectly, our own lives can become a song which glorifies God. With Patrick, and his predecessor, St. Paul, we can trust through the gift of faith, “it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). Walking among others, remember, Christ will be there too. 

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations for this post are from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) translation.

Originally published in the March 2023 newsletter of Christ Lutheran Church, Fredericksburg, VA.

© 2023 The Rev. Louis Florio. All content not held under another’s copyright may not be used without permission of the author.

Forgiveness is complicated

Joseph Chaumet, detail of Via Vita, 1894-1904. Sculpture, Musée eucharistique du Hiéron, Paray-le-Monial, France.

This sermon on Matthew 18:15-35 was preached at Christ Lutheran Church (Fredericksburg, VA) on the First Sunday in Lent, February, 26, 2023.You can also find a recording of this post at my 2 Penny Blog Podcast.

We just listened to a bit of the fourth of five great discourses made by Jesus as recorded in Matthew’s Gospel. Just as the Books of Moses came in five – called the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Hebrew scriptures – Jesus’ teachings come in five primary installments as Matthew tells the story. Again, this, Matthew hopes, will help people identify Jesus as the Messiah…a figure similar too but greater than Moses, as Jesus is no ordinary prophet. Matthew wants us to see that Jesus is truly the Son of God.

This discourse (our teaching segment today) is often called the Discourse on the Church, for it anticipates the shared life and ministry of the future community we now call “Church.” As humans that form the Church, we live within human relationship and mutuality, bound by the Holy Spirit. Still, some people among us will struggle with vanity, selfishness, or lose their way. There will be a need to call people to correction, but just as with the Old Testament, we will hear Jesus speak of justice wrapped within mercy and grace as well. Humility, self-sacrifice, and love, Jesus teaches, are the virtues that will bind this new community together and help it thrive.

Among the many difficult dynamics that come with human relationship, among the most complicated of topics that Jesus addresses, remains the gift of forgiveness. And indeed, forgiveness is a gift at its heart. After all, Jesus died for the forgiveness of our sins before we even asked…Before we were even born, Jesus responded to our need. Our salvation is pure gift, and with his cross and resurrection, Jesus died for all our sin: the sin that’s always part of us as human, fallen creatures; the sins we have done; and the sins we have yet to do. As John writes in one of his letters (1 John 4), “In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.” He argues that we love because God loves us first. Thus, through Jesus’ own example and teaching, we should understand that we also forgive because God forgave us first. Yet, we aren’t Jesus. We can struggle mightily with forgiveness.

When we are hurt deeply, we can tend to cling to our anger and pain. We can become too focused upon it. We can get stuck and ruminate on our wounds. Now, anger itself isn’t sin. Jesus who never sinned got angry at times, but we are cautioned in scripture to avoid sinning in our anger (Eph. 4:26). So, as we focus on the sin we see as perpetrated against us, we might feel justified anger, but we can also slip into sin. We aren’t Jesus. Normal humans can tend to hold onto grudges and even nurse them. Then like a disease, those human, sinful feelings can begin to seep out of our wounds, misshaping our choices along with our view of others and our world.

There’s an old saying, “hurt people hurt people,” and although it is simplistic, I find it often profoundly true. Looking at criminal offenders or people in our family who perhaps don’t love us like they should, we often find their behaviors might not be able to be explained away, but we can often see that their own lives lacked love, tenderness, and forgiveness. They themselves might have been abused or forgotten, and their hurtful choices often might reflect their desire to be significant, have their needs met, or act out like a small child. They might not know the words for their pain and longing. They might not even be aware they are in pain. That’s just what they know. Sadly, the examples they have seen of loving relationships are too often far from the love that Jesus teaches about and exemplifies. Of course, they can be bent inward upon themselves, selfish, as Luther says. The best humans can make bad choices when they have free choice.

In families, the sins of the parents can be revisited upon several generations until someone finally says enough is enough and seeks to return to God’s ways…or so says Deuteronomy 5. Yet, not everyone who grows up exposed to brokenness offends, and just because a parent struggled to love you doesn’t mean that God could not have taught you how to love in some other way. Again, there’s an element of free choice. God can send us people to love us in lieu of a family incapable of loving as they should. So, we should not be too quick to just say “turn the other cheek” or “forgive and forget.” I am not suggesting wrong should be explained away. For our safety, for the safety of others, and even for the protection of the person we are mad at, erasing any error might cause more harm than good. Consequences can sometimes protect people or help teach people to do better.

Some of you have heard my story of a women I met as an officer while on a domestic dispute. She had faced many years of emotional and physical violence, and this night, she had been injured. Her spouse hit her so hard that her cheek was swollen up like a grapefruit. When I suggested to her that she might need to put up some protective boundaries between her and her husband, she ironically said with her swollen face in tears, “But Jesus told us to turn the other cheek.” I had to explain to her that Jesus loved her too, and he likely wasn’t calling her to martyrdom (or more likely unnecessary victimhood) at the hands or her husband. Jesus loved her too, and sometimes when situations are toxic or dangerous enough, it might be best to turn the other cheek and walk away.[i] This doesn’t mean we stop loving them, or praying for their welfare, or caring. It might just be a humble recognition that we aren’t the one’s called to save them from themselves…In such cases, we might need to love ourselves as much as we say we love them. After all, Jesus said the law and the prophets was summarized in our loving God with all that we are and loving others as ourselves…not better than ourselves.

Yes, forgiveness is complicated. Wounds can run deep and last long. A man once told me that he used to get in terrible fights with his wife. Yet it wasn’t the physical wounds that bothered him. Those scars can heal. He wouldn’t think of those physical incidents unless he stopped to look at his scars. No, often for him, the wounds that come from ill chosen words, gossip, betrayal…emotional wounds…those can be the ones that last the longest. Those can be the hardest to forgive and heal. And yes, he is right. Forgiveness is hard. Jesus never said forgiveness would come quickly like someone turning off a light switch. We might need to try to forgive, and then try again, and again. We might find a place of peace only to have something remind us of past pain, and we need to forgive yet once again. It might take a lifetime to forgive, and we might never quite fully make it. Yet, we aren’t only asked to forgive for the sake of the offending party. In just trying to forgive, in our willingness to be open to it, forgiveness heals and frees us whether the other person benefits or not.

When we seek to forgive, it is not admitting what they did was ok. Counselors suggest, “By forgiving, we are making a conscious decision to let go of any resentment, vengeance, or anger that came from being hurt because we believe we will be better off not having those emotions and thoughts floating around inside us.”[ii] It is not about the person deserving forgiveness or changing their ways. It shouldn’t be that we want the person to suffer more before we forgive. Those are ultimately justice and trust issues, and as an Orthodox saint[iii] reminds us, if God was truly and only just, each of us would be in BIG trouble. As fallen humans, we ourselves can never be fully trusted, and we can never earn our salvation. In God, of necessity, justice comes with mercy. So again, modern counselors note, the person who hurt you might not deserve forgiveness…they might not be worthy of trust… “but that doesn’t mean you deserve to live with the resentment and bitterness.”[iv] Our ability to heal and move on requires forgiveness, so Jesus (who loves us and wants what is best for us) asks us to forgive. It might take a lifetime of trying, but in trying, in praying for our enemies, we will discover that we are always blessed…and sometimes reconciliation might yet come.  

How often should we forgive? Peter likely reflecting a the shared consensus of the Apostles suggested seven times. He was being stingy…better than many, but stingy. In context of this conversation, Jesus shares the parable of the Unforgiving Servant in response to Peter’s guess. The parable applies to Peter too, as much as it applies to us and to all. Jesus says we should forgive seventy-seven times (or in some texts seventy times seven times)…an eternity of times, because we have through faith forgiveness for eternity. Jesus is asking us, “Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?”

Ultimately, sin has the potential to harm communities including families. It can injure or murder the spirit of someone. We cannot take it lightly. Yet as professors like Dr. Kimberly Wagner of Princeton University point out, “just because sin has the potential for collective harm, doesn’t mean the sinner should be dealt with harshly. Instead, the text lays out a process that foregrounds compassion, strives to avoid shaming and embarrassment [as demanded in Deuteronomy by the way], and ultimately seeks restoration.” This “is a procedure that insists that the spiritual and relational wellbeing of each person is something worth fighting for and restoration to community is worth our time and energy.”[v]

Yes, we are asked to recognize the consequences of sin, but we are also asked to see the humanity in one another…including our vulnerability and need. We all need forgiveness. Grounded in God’s grace, seeking to love others as ourselves, praying for our enemies even as we ask help in forgiving, or as we ask for the wisdom to know what we need to repent from and set aright…trust that justice will come from God eventually, but the blessings that flow from forgiveness can be ours right now. Amen.

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[i] Hemfelt, R., Minirth, F., & Meier, P. (2003). Love Is a Choice: The Definitive Book on Letting Go of Unhealthy Relationships. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

[ii] See https://www.emerycounseling.com/3-reasons-why-people-dont-forgive

[iii] Isaac the Syrian or of Nineveh (613-c. 700 AD)

[iv] Ibid.

[v] Wagner, K. (2023). Commentary on Matthew 18:15-35 at https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/narrative-lectionary/forgiveness/commentary-on-matthew-1815-35-3

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations for this post are from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVue) translation.

© 2023 The Rev. Louis Florio. All content not held under another’s copyright may not be used without permission of the author.